Improvement in machines for sewing the seams of looped fabrics



3 Sheets-Sheet 1. E. E. KILBOURN.

Machine for Sewing the-Seams of Looped Fabrics. No. 59,746. PatentedNov. 20, 1866.

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3 Sheets-Sheet 2. E. E. KILBOURN.

Machine for Sewing the Seams of Looped Fabrics.

No. 59,746. i Patented Nov; 20, 1866.

[nreziar 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

E. E. KILBOURN.

Machine for Sewing the Seams of Looped Fabrics.

Patented Nov. 20. 1866.

EDWARD E. KILBOUEN, OF NEW BRUNSWICK, NEWT JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THENORFOLK AND NEW PLACE.

BRUNSWICK nosrnnv COMPANY, or SAME IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES FOR SEWINGTHE SEAMS 0F LOOPED FABRICS.

To all whom it may concern: Be 1t known that I, EDWARD ELISHA KIL-BOURN, of New Brunswick, in the State of New Jersey, have inventedcertain new and useful Machines for Seamin g Knitted Goods;

and that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure1 represents a plan of a machine em-- bodying my invention. Fig. 2

represents a front elevation of the same. Fig. 3 represents an end flewof the same. Fig. 4 represents a vertical transverse section of the sameat the line a: 00 of Fig. 2; and Figs. 5 and 6 represent fragmentaryparts of the machine, denoted by the same letters as the correspondingparts in sible todraw eaeh stitch of the seam byhand to precisely thesame degree of tightness, or to I give the proper elasticity to theseam, the work was quite irregular.

A machine was long since contrived for connecting pieces of ribbedfabric to pieces of plain fabric; but the difficulties attending itsemployment have been such as to prevent it from coming into general use.In that machine the work is supported upon a series of points secured toa disk which is caused to rotate past a reciprocating needle.

In the present machine I have used a straight .supportingplate, fittedwith a series of points,

on wliich the work is setup, and have secured the seaming mechanism to acarriage, which is caused to move progressively along the stationarysupporting-plate as thestitches are formed.

My invention, therefore, consists of certain novel combinations ofdevices for the purpose of producing the scam in looped fabrics, one

of the distinguishing characteristics of some of which combinations isthe straight supportin g-plate fitted with a sup 'iorting-point forevery loop of fabric through which the needle is to be passed in formingthe seam.

The accompanying drawings represent a machine in which my improvementsare embodied.

In itthe supporting-plate A is secured to a frame, 13, which alsosustains the other parts of the machine. This supporting-plate is fittedvith a row of points, 6, set at suitable distances apart, for holdingthe stitches or loops at the selvage-edges of the pieces of knittedwork, and each point is grooved in order to facilitate the passage ofthe point of the needle into the loop. The seam is formed by a needleand a looper, both of which are carried along the supporting-plate byacarriage, O, which is supported upon and guided'by a slotted shaft, D,and a feed-screw, E, that are arranged to turn in suitable boxes formedin the end plates Z) Z) of the frame B.

The needle a is secured to a needle-arm, F, which is constructed tovibrate upon a stud, G, secured to the carriage, and the needle iscurved, is eye-pointed, and has grooves in its sides to receive andprotect the thread. The needle is caused to enter the fabric and withdraw from -it by means of a cam-groove, d, in the head of a cam, H, thatis. secured to a sleeve, J, which is mounted upon the shaft D, and isOODJIQOtGtlWltll it by a feather, c, sliding in the slot of the shaft,so that the cam may slide along the shaft with the carriage, but iscompelled to turn with the shaft. This sleeve has two journals, whichturn in boxes m m, secured to the carriage, and have collars a, whichbear against the inner faces of theseboxes, so that the cam-block H isalways held in the same position relatively to the carriage and itsappurtenances, however the two maybe moved along the row ofsupportingpoints A e e.

The looper f has a head suitable for catching and holdin the loop ofthread carried through the fabric by the needle. This looper is securedto a looper arm, K, which is constructed to both vibrate and slide upona stud, I, secured to the carriage, so that a compound movement may beimparted to it, which causes it to enter the loop of needle-thread onthe concave side of the needle, by moving crossvdsc thereto, and to pullit from the work as the needle withdraws; then to move toward the workas the needle returns, and to present the. loop for the entrance of theneedle; and, finally, towithdraw from the loop, by passing across theconvex side of the needle previous to entering the new loop carried bythe needle. This compound movement is effected by the concurrentoperation of a cam groove, 11, formed in the barrel of the cam H, and acamgrade, 01 formed at one of the ends thereof, the former operating tomove the looper crosswise to the needle, and the latter to move ittoward and from the work. V

The cam-grade d operates upon an arm, 9, secured to a sleeve, h, whichturns freely upon the looperstnd I, and has the looper-arm K secured toit. The cam-grade 01 thus operates to rock the looper-arm in onedirection, anda spring, L, is provided to rock it in the oppositedirection, as the form of the cam-grade permits. The cam groove doperates upon the looper-arm through the intervention of a pin, i,projecting from a hub, N, which is fitted upon the sleeve h, between thehub of the looper-arm K and the hub of the cam-arm g.

This hub N is prevented from rocking with the loopersleeve h by means ofa pin, j, which passes through an opening in the sleeve into alongitudinal slot in the. stud I, which permits the sleeve to slidefreely along it without rocking. The object of this contrivance is toprevent the pin 1 from changing its radial position relatively to thecam-groove d by rocking. In order that there maybe no backlash, aspring, P, is provided to keep the pin '5 in constant contact with thedriving side of the cam-groove d.

The looper, the needle, and the cam, and its connections, that operateboth, constitute the seaming mechanism of the machine, and as they areall connected with the carriage 0, they operate in the same mannerrelatively to each other in whatever position the carriage may beplaced.

In order that the carriage may be moved along the work, it is providedwith a section of a nut, R, which is constructed to slide toward andfrom the screw E in a socket in the carriage, and is held in engagementwith the threads of the feed-screw E by means of a spring, G, so thatthe turning of the screw moves the carriage along the row of points 0 ec. This screw is turned by means of cogwheels S S, which connect it withthe camshaft D; and the cog-wheel S on the screwhead is double the sizeof that upon the camshaft D, so that the screw revolves but once for tworevolutions of the cam-shaft. This arrangement is advantageous, becauseit permits the screw to be made of coarser pitch than would be necessaryif the screw turned with the same speed as the cam shaft. The pitch ofthe screw is equal to double the distance between the centers of thesupportingpoints, so that every complete revolution of the cam-shaft Dand corresponding half-revolution of the feed-screw E places the needleat a new supporting point. The screw turns continuously, while theneedle should remain stationary until itwithdraws from the stitch it hasentered. In order to'cause it to remain at rest, notwithstanding thecontinuous turn ing of the feed-screw, the screw is caused to moveendwise in its bearings, at the time the needle is in the'work, by meansof inclines t it, formed upon cam-collars U, secured to the frame of themachine, the inclination of the collars being the same as the pitch ofthe screw, so that the screw is moved endwise in one direction just asfast as it tends to move the carriage in the opposite direction. Hence,as the one movement countcrbalances the other, the carriage and needleremain for the time stationary.

The cam-collars act upon pins V, secured to the feed-screw, and theinclined grades t, for

'connterbalancing the feed motion, alternate with reversed grades t, formovingthe screw endwise in the same direction as the screw moves thecarriage, so that when the needle is not in the work the carriage ismoved by the conjoined action of the screw and camgrades. v.

In seaming the selvage-cdges of knitted goods it is customary to makeeach stitch through the loops of the fabric. This mode of proceedingdoes not give the seam sufficient elasticity for many purposes. In orderto form a scam with the requisite elasticity, I make the stitchesalternately through the loops and over them; and in order that the(stitches may be so alternately made by the present machine, the

cam-grooves and cam-grade for operating the needle and looper are soformed as to operate them twice for each revolution of the cam-shaft D.The journals of the sleeve, also, which turn in the boxes m of thecarriage, are eccentric, and the boxes are constructed to slidehorizontally in their seats in the carriage. Hence, when the cam-sleeveis turned by. the cam-shaft, its eccentric-journals cause the carriageto rock upon the feed-screw as an axis, and .thc eccentricity issufficient to raise the needle above the edge of the fabric, so thateach alternate stitch is formed .over the two edges of the fabric whichare supported upon the row of points e e e. In forming the stitches overthe edges it is expedient, to carry the needle and looper a greaterdistance in the direction of the feed than the length ofthe feed, andthen to carry them back to that supporting-point at which the nextthroughstitch is to be formed. The effect of such lateral movement is tocause the thread proceeding from the needle-eye to the last stitch todiverge to a greater extent from the needle whenv the looper moves totake it; consequently such movement insures the proper action of thelooper. This movement to and fro is readily effected in my machine bygiving the requisite form for that purpose to the inclined grades of thecam-collars U U, which effect the endwise movement of the feed-screw. I

The machine is conveniently driven by a belt applied to a belt-pulley,W, that is made fast to the cam-shaft D. A loose pulley, W, is mountedupon the same shaft to receive the belt when the machine is to bestopped, and the belt is guided upon one or other pulley by ,abelt-shipper, The stock Y of this beltshipper is arranged to slidelongitudinally in standards Z Z, erected upon the frame of the machine.It has a notch near one end, so as to engage, when depressed,with oneside of one of the standards, Z, and when it is so engaged the prongs ofthe belt-shipper guide the belt on the fast pulley. A spring, 0, isprovided to move the belt-shipper and transfer the belt hanger, I, thatprojects down from the stock' of the belt-shipper. Hence, when thecarriage reaches the end of its track, this pin is forced against theinclined side of the hanger by the movement of the carriage, and,raising the stock, disengages the notch, and permits the spring 0 toshift the belt to the loose pulley, whereupon the machine stops.

- In order that the nut-section B may be readily disengaged from thefeed-screw, to permit the carriage to be quickly moved backward to itsstartingpoint previous to commencing a new seam, a lever, 19, isprovided to disengage the section of the nut It from the feed-screw,whereupon the carriage may be slid along the screw and cam-shaft to itsstarting-point, after which the nut is permitted to be re-engagedwiththe feed-screw by the spring Q.

The row of supportingpoints is made long enough to hold the edges to beseamed together without stopping the machine; and in practice I find itexpedient to make it long enough to support the leg of a pair ofdrawers, so that the whole seam may be formed without stopping to shiftthe work. The distance between the end plates of the frame and thelengths of the feed-screw and cam-shaft must then be sufficient topermit the needle to be moved with the carriage from end to end of therow of supporting-points.

The spool of thread may be conveniently supported upon a spool-standard,r, secured to the carriage. The requisite tension may be imparted to thethread by a spring borne against the head of the spool by anadjustingnut; and the slack formed in sewing may be taken up and givenback, as required, by means of a spring, 8, having an eye at its lowerend, through which the thread is passed on its way to the needle. Thisspring operates in connection with a pair of bars, a it, across whichthe thread is extended. The thread is guided to the needle by athread-guide, consisting of a hole, 2, drilled in the end of theneedle-arm. Any suitable thread-tension and take-up may be used in placeof those above described.

The work to be seamed is set up upon the supporting-points of thesupporting-plate A, in the same manner as knitted work is set up uponthe needles of the lmitting-machine, there being a point for every loopthrough which the needle is to be passed at the place of such passage,and these peculiarities of the supportingplate distinguish it from theold. baster-plates which were used in early sewing-machines for thepurpose of holding the fabric to be sewed, and which had needlepointsarranged at intervals to hold the work, without reference to the passageof the needle. If all the stitches are to be made through the loops ofthe fabric, the cam grooves and grade should be arranged to operate theneedle and looper but once for each revolution, the journals of thecam-sleeve should be cylindrical instead of eccentric, and the grades Uof the cam-collars U U must be changed so that they will impart therequired movement to the carriage; or, in place of altering thecam-grooves, the feed-screw may be arranged to feed the carriage alongtwice as fast as it is in the machine represented in the drawings.

In place of rocking the needlecarriage so as to make the alternatestitches over the edge of the fabric, and of moving the carriage to andfro for the purpose of making the over-stitch at a slight distancelaterally from the preceding through-stitch, I produce the elastic seamby making the alternate stitches between the througlrstitches, andwithout raising the seaming mechanism for the purpose. In this case thejournals of the cam-sleeveare made cylindrical instead of eccentric, sothat the carriage is not rocked, and the grades of the cam-collars areso formed as to compensate the action of the feed-screw, while theneedle is advancin g and retreating past the plane of the fabric, and togive the carriage at other times the whole effect of the movement of thefeed-screw. The alternate operations of the needle will then be madebetween the supporting-points. The cams, grooves, and grade foroperating the needle and looper will, in this case, operate in the samemanner as when the alternate stitches are made over the edge of thefabric. In both cases the seaming mechanism is combined with half asmany supporting-points as there are stitches made, and this feature ofmy invention may be applied to the old seamingmachines having a seriesof supporting-points secured to a disk. 7

Having thus described the best mode which I have thus far devised ofembodying my invention, I declare that I am aware that previous to myinvention a sewing-machine has been caused to travel along the edge ofthe work, which was held stationary in clamps, and therefore I do notclaim that combination. On the other hand, I do not restrict thecombinations in which the seaming mechanism enters as a member to theprecise construction of such seaming mechanism, as it may be varied tosuit the views of constructers.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. The combination, in a seaming-machine, of the following devices, viz:the seaming mechanism, straight supporting plate, and feedserew, alloperating in the combination sub-.

stantially as set forth.

2. The combination, in a seaming-machine, of

the devices recited in the preceding claim with cam-collars operatingupon the feed-screw, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, in a seaniin g-machi'ne, of

the needle, the looper, the cam that operates them, the carriage,and-the mechanism for causing the carriage and its appurtenances tovibrate, all these devices operating in the combination substantially asset forth. I 4. The combination,ina seaming-machine, of

a series of points for holding the loops of fabric to be traversed bythe needle with the reciprocating needle and the looper, and with a camso formed as to cause the looper, after the passage of the needlethrough a loop of the fabricto be seamed, to take the loop ofneedle-thread at one side of the needle and withdraw from it at theopposite 'sidethereof, all operating in the combination substantially asset forth.

5. The combination, in a seaming-machine, of

the devices recited in the first claim with a section of a nut thatean'be disengaged from the feed-screw, to permit the carriage to bemoved quickly baekto its starting-point, all said de vices operating inthe combination substantially as set forth.

6. The combination, in aseaming-vmaohine, of the seaming mechanism witha supportingplate provided with half as many supportingpoints as thenumber of stitches made by the seaming mechanism, so that the stitchesare made in regular succession through the loops of the fabric and outof them, substantially as set forth.

Intestimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 14th day of May, A.D. 1866.

. EDWARD ELISHA .KILBOURN. Witnesses: .Gno. W. DAVIES, NICHS. S.WINCKLEE.

